Paul Stinson & Phantom Fifth, Karina Denike

Karina Deniké is a vocalist and songwriter from the San Francisco Bay Area. Born in Cambridge, England to Czech dissident artists, Deniké spent her early years performing street theater throughout Europe, Northern Africa, and India. Upon settling in Oakland, California as a teenager, she immersed herself in the vibrant local arts and music scenes of the area. At age 18 she released her first album with the dual female fronted Dance Hall Crashers, followed by years of international touring and major and indie label deals including MCA, Fat Wreck Chords and Warner/Discovery. Deniké has made a lifelong study of the finer nuances of vocals, harmony, and performance, moving fluidly from intimate torch song chanteuse to soul singer to punk powerhouse. Karina Deniké has released over 25 albums with various groups, worked with grammy award winning mixers and producers, performed at the Montreaux jazz festival (Switzerland),The Salt Lake City Olympics, The Reading Festival(UK), The Filmore, The Shoreline Amphitheater and has been a guest on albums by NOFX, HEPCAT, No Use for a Name, Tony Sly, Joey Cape, Aaron Novik, Ralph Carney among others. She has had her voice and compositions on soundtracks including 2012 20th Century Fox release "This means War", and the 2015 musical “Home Street Home” ( by NOFX’s Fat Mike and Tony Award winner for Avenue Q, Jeff Marx) and was the acclaimed opening track for "The Songs of Tony Sly - a tribute". Her band have performed in Tokyo, London, N.Y. and L.A and at the opening party for the world renowned arts festival dOCUMENTA 2013 in Kassel Germany. Denike has been part of Noisepop, The 100th SF City Hall Celebration ( in June 2015) for a crowd of 18,000 people and been part of the SF Undercover Presents series for Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, which Denike was also the musical director for.

Deniké's new album Under Glass released on Vinyl and CD in April 2015, features her six piece band and an impressive list of additional talent. Centered around power vocal performances and ornamented with a rich collection of vintage sounds — including the chord organ, bass clarinet, Fender VI baritone guitar, vibraphone, and celeste — Under Glass features some of the San Francisco Bay Area’s finest musicians and composers: Aaron Novik, Michael McIntosh, James Frazier, Eric Garland, and Lily Taylor. The album also highlights guests Deston Berry and Alex Dessert (Hepcat), Ralph Carney (Tom Waits, B-52's), Brigid Dawson (Thee Oh Sees), Ara Anderson (Tin Hat, OK GO), Meric Long (The Dodos), and Daniel Fabricant (Nice Guy Trio).

With nods to doo wop drama, crackly records, Motown beats, girl group harmonies, 60's soundtracks, and Eastern European Lullabies, Under Glass is both strikingly original and warmly nostalgic. Its 12 reflective songs are filled with tales of female aviators, love, memory, and personal and regional history, firmly rooted in the musical worlds and seaside city Karina Deniké calls home.

"(Denike carves) out a niche in the narrow space between the indie and traditional music scenes….Her Singing, like her music, is perfectly balanced - her sense of pitch, volume, phrasing are formidable. It is a rare thrill to run into a performer who has such technique and such artistry." (The Bay Bridged.com)

"There's a dizzying quality to Denike's music, an uncanny, time-shifting feel where songs seem familiar until she adds an unexpected texture or an arresting original image. One of the album's consistent pleasures is that (she) knows just how to frame her voice. Denike possesse a voice so rich and luxuriant she sounds like she was born to sing any song that comes her way" - Andrew Gilbert, The California Report (KQED)

"Echoing the timeless sound of Rickie Lee Jones' classic jazzy efforts, Under Glass mixes elements of nourish torch songs, doo -wop, cabaret and finger snapping 60's soul in a travelogue that journeys across San Francisco….the collection of songs swings effortlessly between styles with Denike's commanding, crystalline vocals taking center stage" - Dave Pehling, KTVU